Arran, 8, gets an A* in maths. Now he has a novel to finish

When asked the best thing about becoming the youngest person to achieve an A* at GCSE, eight-year-old Arran Fernandez said it was the trophy presented to him by his father, who is also his teacher.

"It's a truncated tetrahedron," he said. "All the sides are the same length. But the plaque isn't polished enough. I'm going to put it on the bookcase in my office, next to my other trophies."

Arran took his GCSE in maths while still aged seven. At five he became the youngest person to gain a GCSE when he passed maths at foundation level. Last year, aged six, he became the youngest to pass at intermediate level. His father, Neil Fernandez, teaches him at home in Surrey, hates the word "hothousing" and says he has no intention of sending his son to school.

Wearing denim shorts and a black top, Arran looks like any normal boy. But in conversation, he displays intelligence and self-assurance beyond his years.

"We were all confident that I would get an A*," he said. "Daddy teaches me and Mummy reads through my work."

Related Articles

Rather than concentrating solely on maths, Arran, an only child, is also nearing completion of a 30,000-word novel. "It's about a boy called John who grows up to be a knight," he said. "I think I could have it published. I've also been learning about astronomy and English grammar, things like subjunctives and indicatives."

When not studying, Arran enjoys chess, draughts, cricket and reading. He says he would like to be a mathematician or an astronomer.

Mr Fernandez, 38, a political economist, defends his decision not to send Arran to school by saying: "Very young children can have a lot of fun with areas of maths that aren't on the national curriculum. I can't see us ever sending him to school. Socialisation at school is often artificial because pupils are in a room with lots of people the same age. They are held back in some ways. Arran socialises with friends of all ages. Some are home-educated, some aren't."

When asked the point of taking a GCSE so young and what he plans next, Mr Fernandez said: "I don't know when he'll sit A-levels or if he'll go to university while still young.

"There is an argument that it's better to go to university much younger than normal, because there's more peer pressure to do non-academic things if you're there with people the same age."